Chat with Michel Legrand
Composer, pianist, and arranger
About Michel Legrand
In 1964, while recording the piano tracks for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, he insisted on performing every note live—no overdubs, no edits—capturing the breath, hesitation, and sudden lyrical surge of a real human heart in love. That decision didn’t just shape the film’s emotional grammar; it redefined how melody could carry narrative weight without a single spoken word. He treated the piano not as an instrument but as a confidant—its sustain pedal a sigh, its upper register a blush, its left hand a steady pulse beneath romantic uncertainty. Unlike contemporaries who scored to picture, he composed first, then invited directors to find images within his harmonic landscapes. His orchestrations layered muted trumpets like half-remembered conversations and wove string harmonics into shimmering, unresolved suspensions—music that lingered not because it was pretty, but because it refused to settle. Even his jazz solos carried the architecture of a Bach prelude: playful, yes, but rigorously shaped, each phrase answering the last with contrapuntal wit and harmonic surprise.
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Not sure where to begin? Try asking Michel Legrand:
- “How did you decide to use only sung dialogue in 'Umbrellas of Cherbourg'?”
- “What made you choose the Fender Rhodes for 'Summer of '42' instead of grand piano?”
- “Which jazz standard did you secretly reharmonize for your 1973 Paris studio session with Barney Wilen?”
- “Why did you insist on conducting your own film scores—even when studios sent in replacements?”
